The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has awarded $3.7 million in funding to Enel X to add hundreds of supermarkets and refrigerated warehouses to a virtual power plant (VPP) operation to provide flexible demand to the National Electricity Market. 

Solar Analytics, an Australian solar energy analytics company, is offering a new service that allows solar owners to retrieve consumption data directly from retail meters, eliminating the need for additional consumption metering. Known as Integrated+, the release to all eligible homes in the National Electricity Market (NEM) follows a trial in Victoria. 

The world’s most efficient energy network, at an Antarctic research base, has had a solar upgrade, reports Tristan Rayner.

Both the Australian Energy Regulator and Victoria’s Essential Services Commission have pointed to default electricity price rises of more than 30% for residents and small business.

The integration of solar cells and vehicles looks like a sure bet for the future of cars, buses, and trucks. But for startups that have bet on making solar a feature of their electric vehicles (EVs), times are tough, reports pv magazine’s Tristan Rayner.

The drivers for PV supply-chain traceability could rub against a solar industry enjoying a true seller’s market, with demand outstripping supply. However, supply-chain auditing services are gaining support in increasingly regulated environments. pv magazine’s Tristan Rayner has spoken to a number of auditing experts about how they shine a light on often-opaque operations.

The developed world is facing scenarios of zero economic growth or even recessions, as inflation, energy costs, interest-rate rises, and tougher lending criteria makes life tough for business. But money is flowing into the energy transition by scaling and commercialising existing technologies, reports pv magazine’s Tristan Rayner.

The Genap Energy Cover uses HyET Solar Powerfoil thin-film solar modules, rated at 12.0% efficiency, for agricultural water storage and reservoirs, with an initial focus on the greenhouse and horticulture markets in the Netherlands. Genap said a 12kWp test setup had a generation density of 60W/m2, rising to 120W/m2 within a year, with an eventual target of 165W/m2.

Silicon carbide (SiC) has promised inverter makers higher power density, higher efficiency, and a total bill of materials that comes in closer to its more established rival in silicon. Has SiC finally arrived? Tristan Rayner spoke to the people at the forefront of the wider-bandgap material to find out the back story and what’s next.

In a financial world of stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, and credit cards, trillions of dollars are traded daily, with money flows handled by a bevy of databanks. In the world of cryptocurrency, billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin are traded through as many as 400,000 transactions per day, consuming the energy supply of a modernised country. The quirk is a “proof of work” feature that provides decentralised security. Is Bitcoin’s energy usage all for nothing, or is it a game-changer for renewable assets and generators? Tristan Rayner explores.